Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks to the media inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on June 8, 2013. / Anthony Devlin, AFP/Getty Images

by Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

by Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday that his organization is assisting former defense contractor Edward Snowden in an attempt to broker asylum for the 29-year-old contractor in Iceland.

Assange, marking the one-year anniversary of his stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning in a sex-crime investigation, told reporters on a conference call that his organization have been "in touch with Snowden's legal team'' to help in the effort.

Assange, whose organization also is the subject of federal investigation into the release of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables, declined to say whether he had spoken directly to Snowden who has admitted disclosing details of two secret NSA surveillance programs to reporters at The Washington Post and The Guardian newspapers.

U.S. authorities are in the midst of a criminal investigation involving Snowden's disclosures. He is believed to be in Hong Kong.

Assange also urged the Obama administration to drop its investigation into WikiLeaks.